The ability to measure thrust in a valve operator has become increasingly important since the advent of the Charbonneau et al invention disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,542,649. More importantly, the need to measure operator thrust while the operator is attached to the valve has been identified. Charbonneau and other prior art have utilized load cells mounted to the upper bearing housing to measure stem load as the valve stem rises from the close-to-open position to strike the mounted load cell. The load cell technique of measuring stem load is not always functional, since many valve operator designs do not have an upper bearing housing to which a load cell can be mounted.